Human rights are under threat everywhere we turn. The politics of demonisation drive exclusion and hate, extremism and abuse. Technological change is more frenetic and many organisations have shifted their focus on how they deliver impact to adapt. At the same time, we have less resources to work with, and face an increasingly competitive fundraising environment.

With these many and varied challenges facing our movement, the Amnesty Australia Board has taken the decision to create a new operating model, the People Powered operating model.

The new People Powered model is designed to ensure we deliver on our core business: protecting and defending more lives. We want to be a powerful organisation where activists come together to form a community that protects and defends human rights globally. This new model will ensure that Amnesty will be the best and most effective place for Australians committed to human rights to:

Make a connection with human rights values

Be part of a community working towards a better world

Amplify their power to make positive change.

This shift in our operating model will, of course, mean changes. Staff resources are being reduced and will be reorganised to make activist support more targeted as well as more consistent between those who can access our Action Centres and those who can’t. Through these changes we will be focused on making sure your activism and the great work you are doing to fight bad guys will be a priority.

“The new People Powered model is designed to ensure we deliver on our core business: protecting and defending more lives.”

There will be challenges as we work together to figure out what that support looks like – but there is also an exciting opportunity ahead of us to make our activism stronger and more impactful.

Meetings to discuss the people powered model with Amnesty’s senior leadership team are happening now in Action Centres right across the country.

If you are keen to learn more about what is happening to develop this model and to stay up to date with information from the board please check out the activist consultation site . This site is here to keep you all informed as we go through this transition and is updated regularly.